Lessons Never Learned
by PoisonousVampire
Summary: No matter how much she had experienced in her life, nothing had prepared her for this. It was unnatural. It was unbelievable. She thought she was supposed to be the teacher. Fate had something else planned. She was the one that was going to get schooled.


I parked my black Lexus LX 11 in the driveway in front of the building. Pulling my keys out of the ignition and unbuckling my seatbelt, I took a moment to sit back and relax myself before I had to exit the car. Through the left side-view mirror, I looked over the large establishment and let it all settle in.

Mystic Falls High School.

"Damn, it looks a lot bigger than it did before," I said to myself as I watched the students excitedly making their way inside the school, greeting their friends as they rushed into the building. I suddenly felt overwhelmed by the amount of people that I saw. Obviously I knew that it was a high school and was going to be filled with hundreds of people, but until this moment it was just common sense to me. Now that I was here and really facing it, the nerves began to set in.

Grabbing my black tote and my coffee cup, I stepped out of my car and slammed the door shut. Checking that the car was locked before walking away, I made my way towards the entrance of the school, trying to avoid getting pushed or shoved by some of the larger students in the process. Walking inside, I made my way into the office and requested my schedule from the receptionist behind the main desk. After waiting for a moment or two, the secretary handed me my schedule with a warm smile. I retuned it before walking out of the office and down the hall to find where my first class was. Glancing down at the paper for a second, I stopped walking and noticed that my first period was free.

I decided to kill time by finding my first classroom and seeing if it was occupied yet. Walking up to the second floor, I peeked into Room 6 and upon finding it empty, I took a seat behind the desk. It was pretty close to being time for homeroom, and seeing as there was no one inside yet, I figured that the class was going to be empty for now.

I took this time to set out all the materials and set them out, preparing everything that I would need. In the middle of it, my phone buzzed from inside my bag and I hurriedly dug my hand inside and fished it out.

"Hello?"

"Hey babe. How's your first day so far?"

"Pretty fine considering that it hasn't started yet," I smiled. "My first period is in the nest hour or so."

"Oh. Well, you're going to have a kick ass first day. And how about this? For dinner, Andrea and I will meet you at the Grill for dinner and drinks?"

"Dana, I'm gonna have to come back here the next day. And I need to drive. So I can't drink," I replied.

"Ugh. Fine. Then How about we buy the food, buy the drinks and meet up at your house to enjoy it all?"

"I guess that'll be fine. I'll see you two later, then."

"See you, babe," she finished before blowing me an air kiss in the phone. I rolled my eyes and grinned before putting my phone on silent and putting it back in my back.

My free hour flew by pretty quickly. I spent the extra time filling in my meekly planner and agenda book, and before I knew it, the bell rang and the previously empty classroom was being filled with a bunch of people. I carefully watched all of them as they strolled on into the room. I flicked on the lights that were previously shut off and allowed the room to be engulfed in brightness.

The bell rang as the stragglers hurriedly shuffled into the class and filled up the empty seats. Mostly everyone was still busy chatting, and I took this time to let my eyes wander over all the faces. They all looked so excited and happy to see each other, which reminded me of my high school days. The first couple of weeks back were always the best.

When I was sure everyone was inside, I got up from my chair, walked over and closed the door. Upon hearing this, many people stopped talking and hushed others to do the same. Within a few seconds, the whole room was quiet. I walked back behind my desk and pulled out the attendance sheet from my planner.

"Okay. I'm just going to start off with attendance," I said as I walked to the front of the desk and leaned on it. "Just raise your hands or say here," I said as I looked around the class before focusing on the paper in my hands.

"Okay. Patrick Aquino?"

"Here."

"Franklin Avery?"

"Here."

Bonnie Bennett?"

"Here."

I went through the whole list of 28 students rather quickly.

"Is there anyone's name that I didn't call?" I asked. One boy raised his hand. He was sitting on the right side of the classroom towards the back. "What's your name?"

"Stefan Salvatore."

"Okay," I muttered as I wrote his name on the bottom of the paper. "It was probably just a mix up in the office. I'll get it fixed later," I said and he gave me a small nod.

"Okay then," I said as I returned behind the desk and grabbed a bunch of papers from my folder. I split it in half and gave half to the first person in the first row and the first person in the last row.

"It's the first day of class, I'm not going to give you work to do, because that would just be dumb," I said, and got a few chuckles around the class. "I'm just going to go over the syllabus and what the class will be about. Everyone has a sheet?" I asked and no one said anything, so I assumed everyone had one.

"Alright, first thing's first. My mane is Ms. Adams. I, personally, do not mind if you would like to call me by my first name, which is Charlie. No, I was not given a boy's name at birth. My first name is Charlotte, but that seems **way **too formal. If you want, you can call me Charlie. I don't mind. If you feel comfortable with Ms. Adams, then you can call me that." I walked from around the desk and began slowly walking around the classroom.

"This is Psychology 101. This class will introduce you to the study of human behavior and the overall human condition. It's going to teach you how the mind works. You're going to be able to understand how people think, why people think the way they do, and what caused them to think the way they do. In addition to psychology, we will be spending a good amount of time talking about sociology. Sociology also focuses on the human mind, but it's going to reveal to us how different people affect how we socialize with others and how our society is run."

"Okay, let's take a look at the syllabus. The first thing on there is respect. I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's opinions and thoughts, but remember that just because it's your opinion doesn't make you right or wrong. So don't call other people stupid or dumb just because they don't agree with what you said. Everyone's opinion is their own."

"Next thing: If you think something is 'stupid' or 'ridiculous' or just fucked up, say that. Don't say 'that's gay' or 'that's retarded,' because people who may be homosexual or have homosexual friends, or people that have relatives or friends that are mentally retarded will be offended. They might not confront you in school, but whatever happens off of school grounds is your business and will be your fault." A lot of people laughed at this, and I couldn't help but chuckle. "Not that I'm condoning violence off campus. No violence guys," I smiled and they chuckled.

"Next thing. I'm not going to follow you around for your work. You are all on your way to being adults. I'm going to treat you as such. If you don't do the work, I don't give a crap. It's less work for me cause I'll have less to grade. Just don't come to me when you end up failing the course. I'm also not going to give you work every night. I'm not even going to give you readings to do because, let's be honest: when a teacher says 'read pages blah blah blah to blah blah blah,' all we really hear is "No homework for tonight," I said, and they chuckled. "You'll have about 4 to five essays every semester, about 2 to 3 tests every semester, and the midterms and finals are included in your grades. So basically you're not doing much. Just come to class, pay attention, and participate and you'll be good."

I looked back down at the syllabus and smiled. "Ah haha, my favorite one. Cell phones." Everyone started making noise and laughing at this. "Here's my thing about cell phones. Honestly, I could care less if you have it. I know you all have it on you. Look," I said as I pulled out my blackberry and raised it into the air. "I have mine right here, but you won't see me talking and texting while I'm giving a lesson, so I don't want to see you using it when I am talking or giving a lesson," I continued as I put the phone back in my pocket. "Just make sure when you're in my class, you are not on it, which means no talking **or** texting on it. Do whatever you need to do on it before the bell rings. If it rings once in class, I will ask you to turn it off. I'm not gonna be a bitch and take it from you. That seems unnecessary and just stupid. If it rings a second time after I've asked you to turn it off, however, I will take it, and you'll have to go get it from the office, and trust me when I say they will not be as easy on you as I am."

I took a moment and glanced at the syllabus one last time. "I think that's pretty much it. Just be good guys. I don't want to act like some super controlling person because I am a teacher. I want us to get along well and be cool with each other. , I want my first year here to be a good one for me and you," I commented. "Okay. I think that's it. Does anyone have any questions?"

Immediately, a whole bunch of hands shot up in the air. "Damn," I muttered, and the class chuckled at this. "Okay… you first…" I drawled as I tried to remember the name of the boy. Her had blonde hair and blue eyes. "Matt Donovan, right?"

"Yeah. Are you new in town? Because we all pretty much know everyone in Mystic Falls, and we haven't seen you around before," he asked.

"Yes, and no. I lived in Mystic Falls my whole life. When I graduated from high school, I moved to New York and went to university there. I just moved back to Mystic Falls about a month ago."

I went on to the next raised hand. It was the hand of a African American girl with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. "Bonnie, right?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "What college did you go to, and what did you study?"

"I went to Stony Brook University, which is in the southern part of New York, and I majored in Journalism and Law, and minored in Performing Arts and psychology."

"Damn," one of the boys commented.

"I know, It was a very busy college experience, but it was completely worth it."

The next hand belonged to a boy. He had dark eyes and hair. I couldn't quite remember his name. "Taylor Lockwood?"

"It's Tyler."

"Tyler, right. Sorry," I smiled and motioned for him to continue asking his question.

"How old are you? You look way too young to be a teacher."

"Umm…. I'm 22."

I listened as the disbelief spread throughout the classroom. "Yes, I'm pretty young, but here I am."

"When did you finish college?"

I didn't bother matching a name to the face, and I just went on to answering the question. "Okay, well I skipped a grade twice in middle school, so when I graduated from middle school I was 12 years old. That means that in high school, and yes I did go to this high school, I graduated when I was only 16. Then in college, I did programs in the summer which made me graduate with my Master's degrees in 4 years instead of five or six years. I wasn't one to go to parties and drink all the time, even though I did every once in a while. So I graduated from college when I was 19, and I was working in a law office as a secretary for a while, then I worked in a doctor's office for a bit, and now I'm here," I finished with a bright smile.

"That's amazing," one of the girls stated.

"Maybe, but if you want to do it like that, you have to be determined. What I didn't realize was that my university was a major party school. Like, at least 3 parties were going on every day of the weekend. And in college, the weekend starts on Thursday, so that was about 12 parties per weeked. It was crazy, but I wasn't much of a party person anyway, so…" I trailed off and shrugged my shoulders. "No, scratch that. I was a **normal **party person, meaning I went to at the most 2 parties per weekend. Some people went to one every night."

"Where did you get those shoes? They are so cute," one of the girls commented, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"I got it from DSW, and thank you," I smiled.

"Okay, let me just get a sense this. How many of you are members of the original Founding Families?" I asked, and a few people raised their hands here and there. "Huh. That's a lot more than I thought," I muttered to myself.

"Are you a member of the Founding Families?" a brown haired, brown eyed girl asked me.

"Yes, I am. So I'm probably going to be seeing a lot of you at the Founder's Party later this month. Hopefully you won't be forced by your parents like I will be, and you'll be going willingly," I added with a laugh.

"Well, I know my parents are forcing me, so I'll see you there," Tyler said, and the class laughed. I shook my head with a smile.

For the rest of the class, I made everyone go around and say their name and a fun fact about themselves. Now I pretty much had an idea of who was who in my class. Everyone finished introducing themselves right before the bell rang to end the class. I had two more classes, and those flew by pretty quickly. I had the rest of the day free, but I couldn't leave just yet because there was a faculty meeting after school.

I bought a sandwich at the café that was close by the school and ate it inside, but made it back in time for the faculty meeting that began at four. The meeting lasted for four hours, and God was I glad when it was over. It was pretty much a meeting between the department leaders. They discussed what was going to happen in the year, whet they were thinking about changing, what they would keep the same, and everything else that did not involve me. I didn't even bother giving my opinion because if they weren't listening to people that have been at the school for years, why would they listen to me? Me, who has been at the school for only a day?

By the time I was ready to leave, it was a little after eight o'clock. I called Dana and Andrea, and they told me that they had gotten held up too, so they asked me to buy the food and they would meet me at my house. O agreed and made my way to the Grill.

I walked inside the Grill, which was unusually full tonight. Walking over to the counter, I placed my order as well as my two friend's order. I added a "to go" as the waiter glanced up at me.

"That's a lot of food for a tiny girl like yourself," he smiled.

"It's for me and two friends," I grinned.

He shrugged before walking over and putting my order in. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I was genuinely exhausted after such a long day. And it was only the first day.

After reopening my eyes, I felt a weird sensation. I looked around the bar for a while, but found nothing out of place. I shrugged it off and messed with my phone as I waited for my food to come.

When my order was ready, I paid the waiter and grabbed the bag of food off the counter. As I walked towards the exit, I stopped in my tracks, feeling an urge to turn back around. I glanced behind me and was shocked upon finding someone staring straight at me. They were in the back of the restaurant occupying one of the booths, which wasn't lit too well, so I wasn't able to make out their face. I didn't know what it was, but I couldn't move. I wanted to turn around and walk away, walk far away from the staring eyes, but I couldn't move. I was glued to the spot.

'_You look familiar.'_

I blinked upon hearing the eerie voice. I had no idea where it had come from. It sounded cryptic, like a ghostly whisper…

"Excuse me."

I was snapped out of my reverie by a small voice. I turned around and came face to face with the top of the head of a young girl. She looked up at me with her bright brown eyes.

"I have to get back to my family," she said as she pointed to the booth containing a man, a woman and a young boy.

"Of course, sweetie," I smiled as I moved out of the way for her to pass. She smiled at me before walking over to join the rest of her family at the table.

My smile faded as the predicament that occurred only a few seconds ago came back into my mind. I quickly glanced back, and my eyes widened upon seeing the previously occupied booth empty. I blinked a few times before colleting myself and heading out of the Grill. I couldn't help but steal one more glance before leaving, and I once again found the booth empty.

"Maybe I'm more tired than I thought," I said to myself quietly as I made my way into my car. I got inside and made my way home quickly.

"I better get plenty of sleep tonight. No more hallucinating for me."


End file.
